Category: Family

I’d been craving a bowl of that delicious, aromatic Vietnamese soup Pho. My favourite restaurant to satisfy this need is Than Phong on Victoria street Richmond and only a pleasant 30 minute walk away. Victoria Street is often called ‘Little Saigon’ because of its wonderful array of Vietnamese shops, supermarkets and restaurants and is one of Melbourne’s great Eat Streets.

My husband and I agreed that on this fine Sunday a walk would be good, we could stock up the pantry and finish up with a soup for lunch. Read the rest of this entry »

We’d been talking to Janes friend Tracy, asking what he was doing this Sunday, did he want to catch up? He said he was attending gospel church with his mother. Tracy described a small country parish that had seen generations of people attending church, celebrating their faith with fellowship, music and… song.

Could this be one of those churches I’d read about where the congregation bursts into song, sounding like Aretha Franklin, swaying rhythmically, responding viscerally to the music and messages of their faith? I was curious…

How do you let someone know you’d like to witness this without turning their deep spirituality into entertainment, a spectacle? But it wasn’t so complicated…Tracy simply invited us to come along. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s 3am Monday morning, I’ve hardly slept, have a plane to catch and might as well get up. It’s a very long way from Melbourne to my sisters place in The Hampton’s on the East Coast of America. I will fly from Melbourne to Sydney, then L.A., then New York and finish with two trains, to reach my final destination… thousands of miles away and about 30 hours later. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s moist, sticky, irresistibly chocolaty, ridiculously easy to bake and is even yummier the next day!

August is the month where all those Christmas party conceptions come to bear. Nearly every day we seem to be celebrating the birthday of a family member or close friend. We don’t go much on gift giving excesses but we do like to celebrate these special days with food and more specifically Mum’s chocolate birthday cake. Read the rest of this entry »

This year I had a brilliant birthday and thought I’d share with you some of the treats I received. My friends and family know I love things that are small, practical, can be shared, consumed or are an experience that cannot be wrapped…

I returned recently to South Australia to celebrate both my sister’s birthday and a belated mothers day with my mum. A trip to the Clare Valley would be my treat and a far better gift than chocolates or lavender-scented perfume.

The new book I’ve been going on about begins on a small island in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, on the East Coast of America. Eventually my heroine ends up in Australia and possibly stumbling across the mansion made famous in the iconic film ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’. The stately pile, above, can be found just outside the historic town of Mintaro in the wine growing district of the Clare Valley in South Australia. Read the rest of this entry »

I was asked to give a talk. Not so much a speech but to read a letter. It was to be a fundraiser afternoon tea hosted by Maree and Sophie at the gorgeous upstairs atelier of Beautiful Room. I was a bit lost for words, what would I write a letter about and to whom? Read the rest of this entry »